Conveyors



L. DEPETRIS March 1, 1966 CONVEYORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, 1964 E N mm 5 a S 1 4 3 3 n a mu Q x7 0 O b m s 2 8 Q Q Q 2 2 L. DEPETRIS March I, 1966 CONVEYORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1964 Fig. 2

L. DEPETRIS March 1, 1966 CONVEYORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 15, 1964 \m x m United States Patent 3,237,758 CONVEYORS Lorenzo Depetris, Milan, Italy, assignor to Smyth Europea S.p.A., Milan, Italy Filed July 15, 1964, Ser. No. 332,869 Claims priority, application Italy, Aug. 6, 1963, 16,688/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 198210) This invention relates to improvements in conveyors for transferring paperboard blanks and back portions from the feed station to the movable platform on machines for manufacturing book covers.

It is known that book covers are made from two paperboard blanks and an intermediate back portion glued to an outer lining sheet or cloth, the margins of which are bent over about the periphery of the unit formed by the paperboard blanks and back portion, the lining sheet being adhesively connected to the latter components.

Automatic or semi-automatic machines for manufacturing such book covers are further known. The said machines generally comprise a device provided with a rotary cylinder or socalled cloth cylinder carrying along the lining sheet and an applicator roller cooperating with the cloth cylinder for coating the sheet with adhesive;

A platform movable in height on which the paperboard blanks and back portion are superimposed and attached to the lining sheet, and means cooperating With the said platform to bend over the margins of the said lining sheet;

Means for receiving the adhesive coated sheets from the cloth cylinder and transferring them to the platform;

A feed device for the paperboard blanks and back portion comprising two charging devices containing the paperboard blanks and a spool for the strip from which the back portions are cut;

A feed station for the paperboard blanks;

A mechanism for conveying the paperboard blanks from the charging devices and the tape on the spool to the feed station;

A conveyor comprising one suction head at least carried by a vertical shaft adjustable in height, rotatable step by step for receiving the paperboard blanks and back portions from the feed station and transferring them to the platform;

Means for removing finished book covers from the platform and discharging them from the machine; finally, operating means comprising a main drive or cam shaft, cams on said shaft, linkages and secondary drives adapted to operate in mutual synchronism the abovementioned mechanisms on the machine.

A machine of the type referred to above is described by patent applications Serial No. 334,867 filed December 31, 1963; Serial No. 334,866 filed December 31, 1963, and Serial No. 371,897 filed lune 22, 1964, to applicants.

As explained above the conveyors receiving the paperboard blanks and back portion from the feed station and transferring them to the movable platform comprise one suction head at least carried by a vertical shaft displaceable in height and rotatable step by step. The suction head is formed by one arm at least carried at the top of the shaft displaceable in height and having its free end bent downwardly and carrying a pair of cross members which in turn carry supports adjustable in position provided with suction necks or nozzles fitted with annular suction cups and connected through suitable conduits to a source of vacuum.

In known machines the suction necks or nozzles mentioned above connected with the vacuum source are fixedly located with respect to the vertical shaft displaceable in height which supports the suction heads or head.

Consequently, on variation in thickness of the paperboard blanks used for making book covers the suction necks or nozzles should necessarily be adjuted in position 3,237,758 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 ice with respect to the vertical shaft to cause the conveyor to safety grip the paperboard blanks and back portions.

The circumstance that the suction necks or nozzles are provided with annular suction cups of resilient material does not obviate the necessity for adjustment, adjustment relying exclusively on the operators skill, being left to the latters discretion and entailing in any case a loss of time.

This invention obviates the above drawbacks and provides a conveyor for transferring the paperboard blanks and back portions from the feed station to the platform on a machine for manufacturing book covers, which no longer requires any adjustment in position of the suction openings or nozzles as paperboards of a given thickness or differing in thickness are being transferred.

With the above objects in view this invention provides a conveyor of the type referred to above, which is characterized by the fact that the suction nozzles or necks are mounted on the vertical shaft carrying the suction heads in such manner that they can be displaced in the direction of the top of the said vertical shaft parallel with the axis of the latter.

Further characteristic features and advantages of this invention will be clearly understood from the appended description, which is given by way of a non-limiting example, of an embodiment of the invention which is shown on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a part sectional side elevational view of a suction head mounted at the top of the vertical shaft displaceable in height provided on a machine for manufacturing book covers fitted with a conveyor according to this invention,

FIGURE 1A is a detailed sectional view of the support and suction neck for receiving a back portion,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view,

FIGURE 3 is a part plan view,

FIGURE 4 is a part sectional side elevation on an enlarged scale of a constructional detail of the suction head shown in the preceding figures.

FIGURE 5 is a part sectional plan view on an enlarged scale of the constructional detail shown in FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale showing a further constructional detail of the suction head according to FIGURE 1.

On the drawing 1 denotes the vertical shaft displaceable in height of a machine (not shown) for manufacturing book covers. A sleeve 2 is keyed to the top conical portion la of the shaft 1 and is fitted and retained in a tapped collar 3 in the hub 4 of a double arm 5 carrying the suction heads 5a, 5b which are similar and symmetrical with respect to the axis of the shaft 1. A screw threaded pin lb extends from the top of the conical section 1a of the shaft 1 and has screwed thereon a cap 6 carrying a pillar 7 in which two axial conduits 8, 9 are bored, which are closed at the top of the pillar by plugs and connect at the bottom with two fittings 10, 11, respectively, radially extending from the periphery of the cap 6. A sleeve 14 is fitted on the pillar 7 through the interposition of antifriction bearings 12, 13 and defines together with the pillar 7 two annular chambers 15, 16, respectively, connecting with the fittings 17, 18, respectively, connecting through pipes not shown with a source of vacuum and with the abovementioned axial conduits 8, 9 and through the latter with fittings 10, 11 rotatable on the shaft 1 and with the double arm 5.

A casing 20 of a vacuum distributor is secured to each branch of the double arm 5 by means of screws 19. The casing 20 is provided with a front fitting 21 connecting through a hose not shown with one of the abovementioned fittings 10, 11 and with a longitudinal conduit 22 bored within the casing 26 and connecting with a set of lateral fittings 23.

The branches of the double arm 5 each carry moreover a pair of cross members 24 having secured thereto, by means of screws, supports 25 for the suction neck 26 for receiving the back portion and, at the opposite ends of the cross members, supports 27 for the suction necks for lifting the paperboard blanks.

The structure of the latter is more clearly visible in FIGURE 6, from which it will be seen that each suction neck comprises a cylindrical lug 28 mounted for displacement within a plane bearing 29 secured in a through hole bored in the casing of the support 27. The cylindrical lug is formed with a through axial hole 30 connecting wit-h a fitting 31 screwed to the top of the lug in a tapped flared portion of the hole 30, having fitted thereon the end of a tube of resilient material 32, the other end of which is fitted on one of the fittings 23 on the casing 20.

The lug 28 is formed at its other end with an annular flange 33 formed with a shaped groove for accommodating an annular suction cup 34 of elastic material.

The suction cup is conical in shape and surrounds as a rim or cup the front face 28a of the lug 28 into which the inner conduit 30 and branches thereof 3012 open. A coiled spring 35 bears at one end against the flange 33 and at its other end against the plain bearing 29 in order to push the lug 28 downwardly. The hole bored in the casing 27, receiving the lug 28 and plain bearing 29 is formed on the remote side of the latter with larger diameter sections for the purpose of assembling the spring 35 and causing the annular flange 33 on the casing 28 together with a part of the conical suction cup 34 to withdraw within the casing 27.

The extent of movement of the lug 28 under the action of the spring 35 is limited by the provision of an abutment 36 secured by means of a screw 37 to the casing 28 and reaching through a radial hole in the plain bearing 29 into a recess 38 formed in the periphery of the lug 23. Obviously, the structure just described no longer necessitates re-location of the suction necks or nozzles lifting the paperboard blanks on variation in thickness of the latter, for mobility of the suction necks or nozzles with respect to the structure carried by the shaft 1 automatically affords adaptation to the paperboard blank thickness. In the embodiment shown the suction necks or nozzles adapted to lift the back portions are fixed in position, as shown, with respect to the shaft 1. However, the last mentioned suction necks or nozzles can be carried out in the manner shown in FIG. 6 and described above. It will be understood that, the principle of the invention being left unaltered, constructional details can be widely varied without departing from the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a conveyor for transporting paperboard blanks and back portions from the feed station to the vertically movable platform of a machine of the type specified for manufacturing book covers, comprising suction heads, suction necks or nozzles in said suction heads and an axially displaceable vertical shaft for supporting such suction heads, means for slidably mounting said suction necks or nozzles in said suction heads so as to be displaceable in a direction parallel to the axis of said vertical shaft, said means comprising, a support rigidly connected with said vertical shaft, a plurality of guide bushings fixed in said support with their axis extending parallel with the axis of said shaft, a lug forming the suction neck or nozzle slidably mounted in each bushing, means for limiting the lug movements with respect to said bushings and resilient means for constantly urging said lugs downwardly.

2. Conveyor as claimed in claim 1, in which said means for limiting the displacements of the lugs with respect to said bushings comprise, for each bushing, an abutment secured to the bushing support reaching through a radial hole in the bushing into a peripheral recess in its respective lug.

3. Conveyor as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lugs are provided with annular flanges and helical springs encircle the lugs and are interposed between said flanges and the bushings in which said lugs are guided.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,941,675 6/1960 Noble 294- 3,009,179 11/1961 Schramm l1-2 3,090,480 5/1963 Egnov 19863 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Examiner. 

1. IN A CONVEYOR FOR TRANSPORTING PAPERBOARD BLANKS AND BACK PORTIONS FROM THE FEED STATION TO THE VERTICALLY MOVABLE PLATFORM OF A MACHINE OF THE TYPE SPECIFIED FOR MANUFACTURING BOOK COVERS, COMPRISING SUCTION HEADS, SUCTION NECKS OR NOZZLES IN SAID SUCTION HEADS AND AN AXIALLY DISPLACEALBE VERTICAL SHAFT FOR SUPPORTING SUCH SUCTION HEADS, MEANS FOR SLIDABLY MOUNTING SAID SUCTION NECKS OR NOZZLES IN SAID SUCTION HEADS SO AS TO BE DISPLACEABLE IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID VERTICAL SHAFT, SAID MEANS COMPRISING, A SUPPORT RIGIDLY CONNECTED WITH SAID VERTICAL SHAFT, A PLURALITY OF GUIDE BUSHINGS FIXED IN SAID SUPPORT WITH THEIR AXIS EXTENDING PARALLEL WITH THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, A LUG FORMING THE SUCTION NECK OR 